By Esther Paul – Copy Editor
She sat at her desk, donned in blue scrubs, the words, ‘Angel’s touch’ carefully embroidered at the upper right corner. Only a few weeks had passed since she transformed her basement into her office. The words ‘Angel’s touch Health-care’ were plastered on a rectangular glass board above her head. I inched my phone as close to her as possible and hit record.
Angela Paul has overcome homelessness, being undocumented, providing for 10 children, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. Her most recent hurdle, however, is one that her other stories paved the way for: the starting of her own business. During the COVID pandemic, Angela decided to start her own nursing agency, Angel’s touch.
“I was undocumented and needed a job, so I became a sitter at the hospitable with a nursing agency,” she said, before being interrupted by the sound of her husband calling to one of her children. At the time Angela was 31 years old and the mom to four children. Despite the patients who were sometimes difficult to work with, she needed to provide for her family. She recall the time a nurse told her, her patient was going to be a “pain in the neck.” It was through that patient, however, that she got her first breakthrough.
Her patient, a 96-year-old woman named Elizabeth, was a “force to be reckoned with,” Paul said. Her antidepressants made her very agitated. She was restrained to her bed which made her even more aggressive.
“What I did to calm Elizabeth down, and I continue to do with my patients, is stroke her head,” Paul said. “It calms them down.”
It was actions like these Elizabeth’s Chaplin, Jeannie, noticed on one of her visits. Jeannie told Angela she should consider being a nurse after which she expressed that she would not be able to afford it. Jeannie told her to research some schools and get back to her with the information.
“Moving in faith I immediately went to the yellow pages, looked up schools and called for information,” Paul said. “The next day I called Jeannie.
Jeannie went on to pay her tuition in full, as well as take care of any additional charges.
Today, Angela has been a licensed practical nurse for 10 years. During those years, caring became her passion and she knew there was more to it. Working under her previous agency, Angela realized there was a lack of compassion in how the patients were handled. It displeased her and she knew change was needed. So, in September 2019, Angela decided it was her duty to create an agency that “did not think quantity, but quality.” One that would embody compassion and put the patients first. From there, Angel’s touch was birthed.
“Our goal is to provide care from nurses with compassion, reliability and empathy,” she said. “It is not about the money for us, it’s about the service.”
*Story was also used for David Bergelands Journalism Capstone class*
*Last updated March, 15 2021.*